Department for Transport

Transport Update

Mr Mark Harper: Settlement for the next five-year funding period for railway infrastructure in England and WalesMaintaining and renewing our country’s rail infrastructure is critical to delivering the railway that passengers and freight countries expect, and for supporting economic growth. Every five years the Government is required to set out what we wish to achieve from the operations, maintenance and renewal of the railway. This is done through a document known as a High-Level Output Specification, and the funding available is set out through a Statement of Funds Available.I am today (December 1) publishing the objectives and funds available for operational railway infrastructure in England and Wales for the next Control Period - Control Period 7. This covers the period April 2024 to March 2029.The Government fully recognises the critical role rail services played for business, key workers and our society during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the vital role they play in connecting communities and supporting economic growth.The High-Level Output Specification makes it clear that the Government will press ahead with rail reform, addressing the challenges facing the sector, such as fragmentation and outdated working practices, with a strong continued focus on operations, maintenance and renewal. This strong continued focus is important in supporting a safe, efficient and reliable railway for passengers and freight customers.Achieving these objectives will be facilitated by significant Government investment as set out in the Statement of Funds Available, with Network Rail spending around £44 billion over the period April 2024 to March 2029. The Government now expects Network Rail to develop detailed plans to deliver on these objectives, working closely with its customers. These will then be subject to strong and effective scrutiny by the Office of Rail and Road, as independent regulator, to develop robust, credible, value for money plans for the next Control Period.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Local Government Update

Lee Rowley: On 22 March 2022, the then Minister for Local Government, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Member for Saffron Walden, updated the House that the Secretary of State had decided to intervene in Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council (“the Authority”) and had appointed two Commissioners. Those Commissioners submitted their first report to the Secretary of State on 20 June 2022 as part of the objective of ensuring that the residents of Sandwell have, as the Rt Hon. Member for Saffron Walden’s statement indicated, what they need from their local council, including confidence in its governance and service delivery.The first report provides an update on the work underway to make the Authority functional again. The Commissioners confirm that “there are a lot of very tangible changes that need to be made in the council in the immediate term” and that they “are still at the early stages of this intervention” with a recognition that “there are many challenges ahead”. To do that, the report primarily focuses on two elements – firstly, the single improvement plan being implemented to address the issues raised in the reviews undertaken by Grant Thornton, Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and the Local Government Association. Secondly, it provides a broader overview of the Commissioners’ focus and early activities being undertaken as part of the long journey back from the unacceptable position into which the Authority had fallen.The report confirms that the Authority have now adopted a single improvement plan which encompasses actions in relation to all of the recommendations in the aforementioned reviews. The Commissioners have also provided the Secretary of State and me with a copy of that improvement plan. It has aggregated the many recommendations of those reviews, including a number which are serious and statutory. The Commissioners have also developed twelve “proxies for success” which the Commissioners intend to use to evaluate progress during this intervention period. Evaluation of those proxies will commence in future reports from the Commissioners. In the meantime, the Commissioners did point to a number of early indicators of welcome progress including the arrival of new officers, the willingness of Sandwell’s Cabinet and Councillors to start to respond to the recommendations from the reviews and some very early signs of culture change. It is clear, however, that there is much more work to do, and any early indicators of progress must be sustained for a long period to give confidence of a real change in culture, behaviour, processes and governance.The Commissioners’ next report to the Secretary of State is expected in December 2022. A copy of the Commissioners’ first report will be deposited in the Libraries of both Houses.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Project Gigabit Autumn Update

Julia Lopez: Today we have published Building Digital UK's (BDUK) latest Project Gigabit delivery update. We continue to make excellent progress with Project Gigabit, the government’s £5 billion mission to deliver lightning-fast, reliable broadband across the UK.In this Project Gigabit Autumn Update, we report on the awarding of a £108 million contract in Cumbria that will bring gigabit-capable connectivity to up to 60,000 homes and businesses across the region. This is the first regional contract awarded under Project Gigabit, and follows local contracts awarded in Teesdale and North Northumberland in the past two months.We also report on the boost we are giving to the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme, increasing the value of vouchers to £4,500 for all beneficiaries, up from £1,500 and £3,500 for homes and businesses respectively. To date, over 111,000 vouchers have been through the scheme and its previous iterations, with more than 77,000 vouchers used to connect premises to gigabit-capable broadband.The report also provides an update on the progress of the Project Gigabit procurement pipeline. BDUK has now undertaken market engagement exercises across the whole of England, and has launched procurements with a total value over £780 million, to connect up to 545,000 premises. The publication also reports on the completion of a Public Review by Highland and Islands Enterprise, working with BDUK and the Scottish Government, ahead of a first potential local procurement in Scotland.I will place a copy of the Project Gigabit Delivery Plan Autumn Update in the Libraries of both Houses.

Department of Health and Social Care

Fuller Inquiry Update

Maria Caulfield: Following my statement on 16 December 2021, I am pleased to inform the House that a compensation scheme to facilitate compensation payments to the family members of David Fuller’s victims has been established today.The scheme, which will be administered by NHS Resolution on behalf of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, will ensure that compensation is paid to relatives as soon as practicable. The scheme will operate on a tiered approach. All qualifying family members will receive a fixed amount of compensation. Increased payments will then be made for psychiatric trauma and/or financial loss, subject to evidence. Entry into the scheme is entirely voluntary and the scheme will be advertised nationally to help ensure all eligible family members are aware of it.The scheme represents a highly co-operative effort between NHS Resolution, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust and the families’ representatives and I would like to thank all those involved for their work in developing this compensation scheme for families.I would also like to take the opportunity to update the House on the timescales of the inquiry. The inquiry is progressing well and due to the significant amount of evidence being received, the report on matters relating to Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust is now planned for the first half of 2023.